The Blues look well stocked for years to come after Jagga Smith and Harry Dean were standouts in their AFL wildcard final win over the Demons
Melbourne ran on to the MCG to a pyrotechnics show, lashings of Bon Scott and a cacophony of boos. It was notionally Melbourne’s home game, but it was Carlton’s crowd. The Demons were the higher ranked team and had the songs after goals, but the Blues were the ones riding the wave and had the game’s tune.
For the first hour however, it seemed as though the brand of football Blues coach Josh Fraser has cultivated may not hold up in a knockout game. When Melbourne moved the ball, they moved it with purpose, with precision and with speed. Carlton’s ball movement was more laboured and slipshod. Their entries into the forward 50 were as shallow as the boundary umpires’ throw-ins. Blues captain Patrick Cripps was forced to ruck at times, which was like watching Daniel Day-Lewis bob up in an episode of Hey Dad. Most of their early goals came through sheer will. The Blues bludgeoned their way to parity, but the Demons still looked the superior team.